1. Solid Dosage Forms - tablets
Afsar Fathima
M.Pharm

2. Tablets
Is solid pharmaceutical dosage forms containing drug substances with or without suitable diluents and prepared either by compression or molding methods

3. Advantages afforded to the manufacturer
1- simplicity
2- economy of preparation
3-stability
4-convenience in packaging, shipping and dispensing

4. Advantages to the patient
1-accuracy of dosage
2- compactness
3-portability
4 blandness of taste
5-ease of administration.

5. Tablets may differ greatly in size and weight depending on the amount of drug substance present and the intended method of administration.
They are divided into two general classes, whether they are made by compression or molding.

6. Compressed Tablets (CT): This are formed by compression and contain no special coating.
They are made from powdered, crystalline or granular materials, alone or in combination with binders, disintegrants, controlled-release polymers, lubricants, diluents and, in many cases, colorants

7. Sugar-Coated Tablets (SCT) - These are compressed tablets containing a sugar coating. Such coatings may be colored and are beneficial in covering up drug substances possessing objectionable tastes or odors, and in protecting materials sensitive to oxidation.

8. Film-Coated Tablets (FCT) - These are compressed tablets which are covered with a thin layer or film of a water-soluble material. A number of polymeric substances with film-forming properties may be used. Film coating imparts the same general characteristics as sugar coating with the added advantage of a greatly reduced time period required for the coating operation.

9. Enteric-Coated Tablets (ECT) - These are compressed tablets coated with substances that resist solution in gastric fluid but disintegrate in the intestine. It can be used for tablets containing drug substances which are inactivated or destroyed in the stomach, for those which irritate the mucosa or as a means of delayed release of the medication.

10. Multiple Compressed Tablets (MCT) - These are compressed tablets made by more than one compression cycle.
Layered Tablets - Such tablets are prepared by compressing additional tablet granulation on a previously compressed granulation. The operation may be repeated to produce multilayered tablets of two or three layers. Special tablet presses are required to make layered tablets

11. Press-Coated Tablets - dry-coated, are prepared by feeding previously compressed tablets into a special tableting machine and compressing another granulation layer around the preformed tablets.
They have all the advantages of compressed tablets, i.e, monogramming, speed of disintegration, etc, while retaining the attributes of sugar-coated tablets in masking the taste of the drug substance in the core tablets.

12. Press-coated tablets also can be used to separate incompatible drug substances
In addition, they can provide a means to give an enteric coating to the core tablets. Both types of multiple-compressed tablets have been used widely in the design of prolonged-action dosage forms.

13. Controlled-Release Tablets - Compressed tablets can be formulated to release the drug slowly over a prolonged period of time. Hence, referred to as Prolonged-Release or Sustained-Release dosage forms as well.

14. These tablets (capsule versions) categorized into three types:
(1) those which respond to some physiological condition to release the drug, such as enteric coatings;
(2) those that release the drug in a relatively steady, controlled manner and
(3) those that combine combinations of mechanisms to release “pulses” of drug, such as repeat-action tablets

15. Tablets for Solution:
* Compressed tablets to be used for preparing solutions or imparting given characteristics to solutions must be labeled to indicate that they are not to be swallowed. Examples of these tablet: Potassium Permanganate Tablets for Solution

16. Effervescent Tablets:
In addition to the drug substance, these contain sodium bicarbonate and an organic acid such as tartaric or citric.
In the presence of water, these additives react liberating carbon dioxide which acts as a distintegrator and produces effervescence.
Except for small quantities of lubricants present, effervescent tablets are soluble.

17. Compressed Suppositories or Inserts Occasionally, vaginal suppositories, such as Metronidazole tablets, are prepared by compression. Tablets for this use usually contain lactose as the diluent. In this case, as well as for any tablet intended for administration other than by swallowing, the label must indicate the manner in which it is to be used.

18. Buccal and Sublingual Tablets: These are small, flat, oval tablets.
Tablets intended for buccal administration by inserting into the buccal pouch may dissolve or slowly; therefore, they are formulated and compressed with sufficient pressure to give a hard tablet.

19. Sublingual tablets:
* As those containing nitroglycerin, isoproterenol hydrochloride, are placed under the tongue.
Sublingual tablets dissolve rapidly and the drug substances are absorbed readily by this form of administration.

20. Molded Tablets [Tablet Triturates (TT]
Tablet triturates usually are made from moist material using a triturate mold which gives them the shape of cut sections of a cylinder. Such tablets must be completely and rapidly soluble. The problem arising from compression of these tablets is the failure to find a lubricant that is completely water soluble

21. Dispensing Tablets (DT) –
These tablets provide a convenient quantity of potent drug that can be incorporated readily into powders and liquids, thus circumventing the necessity to weigh small quantities. These tablets are supplied primarily as a convenience for extemporaneous compounding and should never be dispensed as a dosage form.

22. Hypodermic Tablets (HT) - Hypodermic tablets are soft, readily soluble tablets and originally were used for the preparation of solutions to be injected. Since stable parenteral solutions are now available for most drug substances, there is no justification for the use of hypodermic tablets for injection.

23. Tablet preparations
There are three general methods of tablet preparation:
1-the wet-granulation method,
2- the dry-granulation method and
3- direct compression.

24. After compression, the tablets must have a number of additional attributes such as
appearance,
hardness,
disintegration ability,
appropriate dissolution characteristics and
uniformity which also are influenced both by :
the method of preparation and by
the added materials present in the formulation.

25. Ingredients of the Tablets:
In addition to the active or therapeutic ingredient, tablets contain a number of inert materials( excipients). They are classified according to the part they play in the finished tablet.
1- those which help to impart satisfactory processing and compression characteristics to the formulation (diluents, binders, glidants and lubricants).

26. Diluents
An inert substance is added to increase the bulk in order to make the tablet a practical size for compression.
Diluents used for this purpose include di calcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, lactose, cellulose, kaolin, mannitol, sodium chloride, dry starch and powdered sugar.

27. Certain diluents, such as mannitol, lactose, sorbitol, sucrose, when present in sufficient quantity, can impart properties to some compressed tablets that permit disintegration in the mouth by chewing.
Diluents used as excipient for direct compression formulas have been subjected to prior processing to give them flow ability and compressibility.

28. Selection of the diluents: Is based partly on the experience of the manufacturer as well as on diluents cost and compatibility with other tablet ingredients. However, in the formulation of new therapeutic agents, the compatibility of the diluents with the drug must be considered, e.g: calcium salts used as diluents for the broad-spectrum antibiotic tetracycline have been shown to interfere with the drug’s absorption from the gastrointestinal tract.
When drug substances have low water solubility, it is recommended that water-soluble diluents be used to avoid possible bioavailability problems.

29. Binders: Agents used to impart cohesive qualities to the powdered material to insures the tablet remaining intact after compression, as well as improving the free- flowing qualities by the formulation of granules of desired hardness and size.
Commonly used binders include: starch, gelatin and sugars as sucrose, glucose, dextrose, and lactose.
Natural and synthetic gums which have been used include acacia, sodium alginate, carboxy- methylcellulose, methylcellulose, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, Veegum. Other agents which may be considered binders under certain circumstances are polyethylene glycol, ethyl celulose, waxes, water and alcohol.

30. Lubricants: Lubricant functions in tablet manufacture.
Prevent adhesion of the tablet material to the surface of the dies and punches.
Reduce inter particle friction.
Facilitate the ejection of the tablets from the die cavity.
May improve the rate of flow of the tablet granulation.
Commonly used lubricants include: talc, magnesium stearat, calcium stearate ,stearic acid, hydrogenated vegetable oils and (PEG).
Most lubricants, with the exception of talc, are used in concentrations less than 1%. When used alone, talc may require concentrations as high as 5%.

31. Anti adherents: Reduce sticking and adhesion of the tablet granulation or powder to the faces of the punches or to the die walls.
Glidants: Promote the flow of the tablet granulation or powder materials by reducing friction among particles

32. Disintegrants:
Is a substance, or a mixture of substances, added to a tablet to facilitate its breakup or disintegration after administration.
Materials serving as disintegrants have been classified chemically as starches, clays, celluloses, algins, gums and cross-linked polymers.

33. Colors and dyes serve to:
Disguise off-color drugs.
Provide product identification.
Produce a more elegant product.
Food, drug, and cosmetic dyes are applied as solutions; lakes (dyes that have been absorbed on a hydrous oxide are usually employed as dry powders.

34. Flavoring agents: Are usually limited to chewable tablets or tablets intended to dissolve in the mouth.
(a) Generally, water-soluble flavors have poor stability; hence, flavor oils or dry powders usually are used.
(b) Flavor oils may be added to tablet granulations in solvents, dispersed on clays and other adsorbents, or emulsified in aqueous granulating agents. Usually, the maximum amount of oil that can be added to a granulation without influencing its tablet characteristics is O.5%—O.75%.

35. Artificial sweeteners, like flavors, are usually used only with chewable tablets or tablets dissolve in the mouth.
(a) Some sweetness may come from the diluents (e.g., mannitol, lactose); agents, such as saccharin and aspartame, can also be added.
(b) Saccharin has an unpleasant after taste.
(c) Aspartame is not stable in the presence of moisture.
Adsorbents
(e.g., magnesium oxide, magnesium carbonate, bentonit, silicon dioxide) are substances capable of holding quantities of fluid in an apparently dry state.